We have started the day early morning with breakfast in the hotel. The selection for the breakfast was satisfying and we were quite impressed with the quality and options. In comparison with the US experience this spring where the hotels were providing only plastic or recyclable plates and basic sweets, in Japan we had porcelain dishes and really great breakfast options.

We packed our luggage and headed out to Haneda Airport, to catch our flight to Memanbetsu-Hokkaido. What initially was supposed to be a one-hour subway ride quickly transformed into a two hours adventure, as I decided to get down from the train one stop earlier.

But all in all, in the end, all was good, we got the plane in time. After the takeoff, we were rewarded with some beautiful views of the city and Mount Fuji. The flight was quite short, roughly one hour so the time passed by quite quick.

Memanbetsu airport is quite small, and the first surprise was at the car rental desk when we discovered that we have reserved the car in Monbetsu. As you can imagine Monbestu and Memanbestu are not the same, and there is quite some distance between them as well. Luckily we managed to make ourselves understood and there was still an available car for us. After a small ride with the bus to the rental station, we did the formalities and got out luggage in our rental car, a really nice Subaru Impreza which will be our trusty companion in the next weeks to come. 

The first challenge was to configure the navigation device in the car, even if the guidance was in English, the menus were only in Japanese. We managed somehow … but we need to use our phones to make sure we are heading the right way. 

Driving on the right side for the first time is interesting, to say the least. We read and documented ourselves, but I am always mistaking the turn lights shifter with the wipers control, this is going to hunt us for the next weeks. Luckily we have an automatic car, thus I don’t have to worry about changing gears on top of the normal struggles. 

It was now close to 3 PM and we were starting to get hungry, we drove to Memanbetsu and to our surprise every restaurant was closed. Only the post office was open and after a lot of body language and signs, we managed to get 6 stamps and directions towards a potential place to eat, which we were about to discover that it was also closed. We were lucky that Flory had some basic Japanese knowledge as

In the end, we ended up in a local shop from where we purchased some Onigiri and snacks.  In the same time, we decided to get sufficient toilet paper, since we read somewhere that the camping places might not have available, and a bottle with what we thought it would be water. Back in the car, we noticed that the water was smelling funny and looked like alcohol, the whole 2 liters of it.

 The first objective on our list was lake Notoro, a lagoon having coral grass, this is a special type of sea plant which in autumn turns red, giving this special contrast with the blue of the water and green of the grass. Once arrived in the parking lot we were welcomed by a very cold wind. We were also lucky to be the only ones in the parking lot, but not for long as one bus pulled in and the whole place was swarming with people.

Next stop on our way to Shari is Cape Notoro, the northest part of Abashihiri, on the cape there is a white and black lighthouse and you can enjoy some really peaceful views, there is no parking fee and there are tables and benches where you can sit an relax. 

However all fun things have an end, the sunset was close to an end and outside it was getting pretty cold. We decided to stay in a hotel this time and set up the tent next time. 

We stopped in Shinjuku hari and decided to spend the night at Hotel Grantia Shiretoko Shari Ekimae, they had only one room available and this was a smokers room. It was too late and we thought it can’t be that bad, compared with the alternative diving for some more hours to find the next hotel or camping to set up the tent in the cold weather outside. 

We left the car at the railway station and went for dinner at the closest place しれとこキッチン熊湖 were we enjoyed some local fish dishes. After dinner, we returned to the hotel and enjoyed the onsen (hot spring) for the first time in Hokkaido. 

All in all a full day and we went to sleep thinking of the next day when a boat trip on the ocean was waiting for us, and some great places were planned. If only everything would go as planned…

Here is a quick overview of our travel map for the day

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Below you can also see the photo gallery:

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